Ex-Financial Times Journalist Tom Foremski @ the Collision of Technology and Media

28

November

2008

|

04:31 PM

America/Los_Angeles

The Wisdom Of Crowds And Financial Bubbles...

In the "Web 2.0" scene there has been much spoken about the "wisdom of crowds." It is rare to see anyone challenge this accepted notion.

Communities are encouraged to express themselves and when they do, you tend to get a uniformity of thinking.

I was always brought up to question the wisdom of crowds, to question the accepted beliefs of the majority. I tend to stay away from "crowd" thinking. As a younger man I was always pleased that there was a "Doubting Thomas" that I could draw inspiration from.

If anything, there are many examples of the "madness of crowds." Pogroms, Adolf Hitler coming to power, wars, are easy ones to spot where there has been a huge lack of wisdom from the crowds.

I wonder if the recent financial speculative bubbles will do much to erode the accepted notion of the "wisdom of crowds."